The Coffee Tool Every Home Barista Needs
Making coffee isn’t rocket science.
But, it’s still science. A science which requires certain tools.
Making coffee is like baking or cooking. You’re following a recipe. And if you mess up that recipe, the results will be undesirable. When brewing coffee, it’s important to keep in mind that you’re brewing based off of a recipe. The recipe normally includes the amount of coffee, the amount of water, the grind size of the coffee and amount of pours. And the biggest mistake I see when people are brewing coffee is not using a scale.
I believe the scale is the most important coffee tool. You can get away with using a regular kettle instead of a gooseneck, or not distributing your espresso before tamping. But, if you don’t know how much coffee you have to begin with, you’re going to have a hard time predicting the amount of water to use, which, most of the time, will result in a weak cup of coffee.
Let’s take a look at why the coffee scale is important.
The Ratio System
Making consistent coffee is done by using the ratio system. Any brewing technique, whether it’s pour over or espresso, uses this. It’s a simple way to define your parameters so you can easily and consistently brew coffee that tastes good every time.
The ratio we’re measuring is coffee to water. The general standard for drip coffee is 1:15. So that’s one part coffee to 15 parts water. And since we mostly measure coffee in grams universally, it’s easier to read it as 1 gram of coffee for every 15 grams of water. This makes it really easy to figure out your exact recipe.
As an example, let’s take a look at a simple 1:15 recipe. You know you’re going to use 25 grams of coffee. To keep to the 1:15 ratio, all you have to do is multiply 25 (coffee)x 15 (water). So, in this particular instance, you’d use 375 grams of water for a 1:15 ratio.
From there, you can determine your own ratios. Personally, I prefer a 1:14 or even 1:13 on certain coffees. The ratio system makes coffee incredibly easy to experiment with.
Using the Scale
The scale is important here for both measuring out the coffee, but then measuring the amount of water you’re using. This way, you don’t wind up with a super weak-tasting cup of coffee because you used too much water, or one that tastes under-extracted and bitter because you used too little.
Kitchen scales have something called a “Tare” function. This sets your weight back to zero, no matter the amount of weight you have something on it. Always start by rinsing your filter and placing the entire setup on the scale and then tare-ing it back to zero to ensure a consistent pour.
I can not stress enough the importance of using the scale. It’s what keeps things consistent and accurate. Every specialty coffee shop should be using a scale for almost everything. I know a lot of them weigh the espresso portafilter every time they’re pulling a shot of espresso to ensure their shots are consistent and using the exact amount of coffee they need.
Scales to buy
There are a lot of options that you can get, all of varying price ranges. Any standard kitchen scale that measures in grams will do. If you’re looking to buy one, here are some options of varying price points. There’s been an increase of scales with gimmicks lately like app connectivity, flow profile measurements, user modes and other features you didn’t know you didn’t need. But if you’re like me and just want a simple scale with maybe a timer included, then check out some of these lists.
Brewista Smart Scale (This is what I have and I love it. I will easily buy more of these)
Espresso Scale (yes, that’s the name)
Conclusion
As you can see, you don’t need to spend a million dollars on a scale. But, you want to buy a product that will last, and something higher end like the brewista will be a good investment.
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